90 



IRISH GARDENING 



Mifltr- III tlifSf iiri'iiiiistau(.-(,'S it is evidfiu tliiil 

 my plants art- cuuiix'lU'cl to exist in wliat may Ik- 

 teniu'd smli " natural lontiitions " as aif possilijt- 

 in an alien soil and ilimato. and. tluicfdrf. tlu-ir 

 history should jjvovi- of greater use to the average 

 roek gardener than the history of plants more 

 favoiuahly phued, whii-li reeeive that extra care 

 and attention all plant lovers would like to hi-stow 

 upon them if eireumstaiices permitted. 



My present roek gardi'n was eonnneneeil ibliout 

 HMK;" and the eolleition of i)lants inereased st<'adily 

 111) to l-'H- -^t •'">' I>«iiod the two largest genera 

 wi're Saxifraga and Campanula. I had nearly oOd 

 species of the former, hut alas many have since 

 departed, and have not Ijcen replaced. Other 

 genera were fairly well represented, and a few 

 additions were nuide in 1912 and 191o. ))ut since 

 1914. with the exception of filling np some of the 

 lilank spaces with spare plants from pots, little 

 has heen done exi-ept to keep the surviving plants 

 weeded, and of the suivivors it may be said that 

 some of them dati" from 19U(i. and the majority of 

 tlu'ui have ixistod from between tliat year and 1911. 

 In dealing with the survivors I am at once faced 

 with the (litticnlty of selection. There are plants 

 like Linarias Areiiarias. (.'erastiums, Antennarias. 

 etc., which are so indestructible that they become 

 a nuisance. Again, there are plants like Mori.^ia. 

 which is a weed in a neighbour's garden, and 

 steadily goes back every time it is planted out in 

 mine; "and the question of " variety " is often a 

 matter of opinion upon which nurserymen's cata- 

 logues frequently differ. Mr. Anderson and your 

 readers must forgive me, therefore, if I omit or 

 pass lightly by .species which they think are of 

 more interest or importance than others Avhich 1 

 may mention more particiUarly : — 



Acaittlialiiiiovs do well in moraine, and I havr 

 old clum])S of .4. iicrrosu III, A. rcinistiiin , A. Iei>- 

 furoiili's and A. fjlumaceum. 



.^Jthioueiiids are apt to die away unless frequently 

 cut back, but a plant I got from Bees as .4. 

 atitifaurus survives uncared for. A. n-ailei/cnsis 

 is comparatively new, but seems very vigourous. 



Anflroinrdd ti'tr(i(ion(i and .4. Mrnziesii cause no 

 trouble in shady peat. .4. fastUjlota I had once 

 and promptly lost. 



Aiulrosnrcs. — Only the I'humbyi UniiKj i n osa tyj)e?i 

 survive. .4. rillosa is shorter-lived, but seeds itself 

 freely in moraine. 



Anemones, like alijina, ruhsafilld and hhnuhi, 

 live and increase. .4. lupicola, about (>-7 years 

 old. is increasing in loose peat. 



Aquihii'ids. — .4. fiahi'Udta and .4. formosa live 

 and seed themselves uncrossed. Other species are 

 short-lived. 



Asters as a race live as long as the slugs will 

 permit. A. BaUingensis is a very fine clump, 

 sprouting from an old wall, about 6 years old. 



Camiyniulas, as a rule, are long lived. Some par- 

 ticularly old clum])s of ('. dhiet'nid, coUiiid, nifida. 

 lidddcdna, piilla and juill/iides, liaineri. s<inniitini 

 and T<noiiidsinidiid. ('. (irraticd (arufdngiilfi) is 

 newer, and is also growing strong. I am interested 

 to see in Mr. Scaife's article that it is evergreen 

 with him. with me it dies down in July, imme- 

 diately after flowering, and reappears about end of 

 August. 



DiontJiiis. — All the " mat " type, like ]). dritoides 

 are long-lived: the "tap root" type, like D. 

 rnicroJepis are pursued by ants and wireworni 

 but I have one plant of I), microlepis at least 

 fi years old. D. ne<jlrctus makes large mats. Pinks, 

 like J), cinnabar'nnis are vcrv short-lived. 



KiiiKi, ,-d 1)11111/ ins seems long-lived. I have two 

 old plants, one over \'2 years. 



Edrdiiinflnis sri injlifidi lis anil K. lirdfinvm 

 survivi — others d(t not. ))ut H. piiniilio seeds its»'lf. 

 Hio<rniiiis as a race survice. K. ili ii/sunth iiiu is 

 especially good. 



irrufians do badly, (i. iiinn especially. I can 

 only recollect old clumps of (.'. nidiilis, <t. sri>frni- 

 f'ulii, a. iisriejiidiled, an<l possibly d". Kesselrin<ii. 



Ihiihds ill time get shabby, init If. inihiicaiii is 

 an exception. 



Ifoui/ldsid ritalidnd and imniuiiand seem very 

 long-lived. 



lidhi ilrii rliodoprnsis survives. 



Of II)/pei irunis, II. reptans is the best, but U. 

 (il j/iii iiirii III seeds itself freely. 



I have old cilimps of /;/.n- terfiniiin, I. iiiiK Wipes, 

 I. Idciisiiis. all the siberica tyi)e do well.' BuIIkuis 

 irises df) not survive. 



Lin.iii riniddensis spreads and survives. 



(t.nilis—J do not recollect losing any plants of 

 (). eniieii idi !/llii. <>. dileiinidi i/IIii or (t. hisiandid. 

 But (>. luhnti, and O. nihliridud are not very hardy 

 here. 



Of (hiiisiiis, rocrinrii diid iikk rnjdiylla I have 

 no complaints. 



I'd [Id r< I dipliniin is short-lived. J', rupifiugxim 

 increases. 



rin/t''umas, except/', pduciflfmi ,1'. heniisphcrira 

 and i'. laiiiosuiii (slugs, not constitution) survive. 



Pole III fin iums do not live long, except P. reptans. 



I'dtent'dlds and (renins survive, but (t. Ihilgari- 

 (inii (true) and (r. reptans are imcertain in extra 

 dam]) winters. 



I'r'nnnhis are not long-lived, except the Aurirvla 

 type. With most of them my difficulty is to plant 

 tluiii in positions damp enough for their summer 

 rcquiieiiients, and not lo() damp for their resting 

 jieiiod. 



lidinoiiiliiis all succeed. I have one old clump 

 of 1{. Xaffidliar at least 12 years old. 



I'ljiiflas once estal)lished are indestructible in 

 loose peat. 



Sd.r'ifidijds. — Aizoons, cxccpt rar. rosea, are 

 long-lived in ordinary garden soil. Of Kahsrhias. 

 in addition to these mentioned by Mr. Scaife, T 

 have old i)lants of S. liori/i, S. .Jaigueana , ,S'. Ferd- 

 Corhiiriji. lioi/dii alba, cnsia (planted 1911 in 

 moraine). psrudo-Kotsrh i/i , Solomoni I'andeUi. and 

 T<>)uJ)rdnrnsis: the last two — judging from col- 

 lected specimens — must l)e verv long-lived in their 

 Uiitive habitats. 



Other old clumps of Saxifraga which occur to 

 me are of 



S. liurseriana major (in half shadei. 



S. Foiiiinei, S. hiteo-purpiireo. S. tJiessalica , S. 

 inteijiifidiii, ,s'. nifidula, S. Lyelli. X. air.oides, >'. 

 KcJlcreri, and imless the recent drought has killed 

 it in my absence, I had a magnificent old plant of 

 the Frederiri Aiiinisti form of S. Strilmri/i, which 

 bore last February no less than 38 spikes of 

 flower. 



SJiortid (jalarifoUa is 14 years old, and a fine 

 plant. .S'. mil flora a])0ut fi. 



Soldanellas survive, but flower badly. 



Veronica. — All the mat-forming species survive; 

 the small l)ushlings are less dependable. 



Violas. — None of the liigh alpines survive long. 

 Most of the others either survive or sow them- 

 selves. 



Lithospermnms, intermedium and tjraminifoJivm 

 survive. L. prostratum dies away in patche.?. 



I have already occupied more space than I 

 intended, and have l)ut touched the fringe of the 



